Gratitude Photo Challenge 2020

Hello there Adventurous Friends.  How you doing?  Greetings from South Dakota.  I hope all is well in your household.  Our county's Covid numbers are way down from last month.  There are currently 6 active cases with minimal community spread.  Now that's out of the way, let's get on to some funner stuff.

I participated in a gratitude photo challenge this month along with some others.  The challenge was fun & a bit of a challenge at times.  It got me to thinking how I'm truly grateful for daily activities & things that I oftentimes take for granted.  I enjoyed reading along as some posted their gratitude daily & weekly.

 

* Comfort food 

Homemade chili on a picnic

* Fresh produce

Our garden bounty

*  Home - me by the front door

"Come on in"

*  A favorite place to walk

The backyard

*  Nature

Exploring & learning habitats - deer horned lilac bush

*  Something in autumnal colors

Snack table I sat up at work

*  Warm clothes

Fleece lounge pants

*  Weather

Snow & ice - good day for going to the gun show

*  Favorite smell

Fresh cut grass

*  Keepsake or memento

Found on the beach - memories of playing
in the sand & ocean with daughter 

*  Pet

Rose

*  Best friend

Cherished near & far

*  Routine or habit

Make bed, wash dishes & empty the ice trays

*  Coziness

Blankets & a warm fire

*  Surprise

There was frosting!

*  Morning

Looking out the dinning room window during breakfast
Kevin makes breakfast, I pack our lunches

*  Evening

Working puzzles, reading, watching movies & mini series

*  Hobby

Taking pictures, making books & blogging

*  Work

Daily check-off list

*  Play

Playing ball with Rose

*  Warm beverage

I got the Grands personalized mugs 
to have hot chocolate in.
 (Christmas gift idea)

*  Good Health

Walking, sunshine & fresh air

*  Books

Little House on the Prairie fan

*  Quiet

Mornings before going to work

*  Family

We're all Superstars
in his eyes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November Update on My Fall Bucket List

This is my November update on how I'm coming along with getting the rest of the items checked off my fall to-do list.  I'm in the process of making pumpkin pies along with some honey fudge this weekend.  Here is how some others are doing.

1.  Go to County Fair  ✅  Attendance seemed to be down this year, perhaps because of the you know what - Covid.  Kevin pitched in the horse shoe tournament.  I go for the cinnamon buns.  Kevin got 2nd place in his division.

2.  Send Grands a little money for back-to-school supplies ✅  The Grands started back to school having 2 days of in person attendance & 3 days of distance learning at home.  The oldest Grand decided to do distance learning full time.  His 2 days of in person attendance was online learning with a lunch provided & not a teacher in front of the class teaching.  He came up with a plan of what he would do at home.  Daughter said it's working good so far & the Grand tells me he is getting all his school work completed.  The oldest Grand went back to school for the 2 days, life at home 24/7 was getting boring.

3.  Put out fall decorations ✅  I'm not much of a seasonal decorator but I do have a few items I put out to set the mood.  My decorations are inside.  I'm going to add - drive around town & look at outdoor fall decorations & leaves.

4.  Make a snack mix using candy corn ✅  I like candy corn, how about you?  I made this pumpkin spice snack mix.  I sent some to work with Kevin & me to have for lunch.  The rest I sent to the Grands in a care package.

5.  Get candy for trick-or-treaters ✅  I plan ahead for special treats due to our little grocery store being limited on seasonal selections.  I also have to plan to get enough candy, so when Kevin & I eat some most of it, there will be some left to give to the trick-or-treaters.

Sunday afternoon picnic

                                                                                     

6.  Stock up on canned goods & personal items ✅  I like to stock up about every 6 months - fall & spring.  I'm not much of a shopper.  When there was the Covid toilet paper shortage, it was here too in our small town & everywhere else that I have family & friends, we had what we needed already on hand.  Heard there was another toilet paper shortage, we still have plenty to last till spring when it will be time to do spring stock-up.

7.  Start Christmas shopping ✅  Christmas is the busiest time of the year at work for me.  The more Christmas stuff I can do ahead of time, means less stress.  I plan to mail my presents the week after Thanksgiving.  Season passes to an amusement park for the Grands & sent money for bicycles.  Daughter let me know Walmart was stocked back up.  Got all the Christmas shopping done & have 2 more boxes to mail to Daughter.

8.  Watch the Adams Family ✅ Snacked on spiced apple cider & homemade pumpkin cookies while watching.  That checked 3 items off my list.  I'm going to add - watch 31 nights of fall/Halloween movies.  For November we are watching Westerns.  My idea of Western is different than Netflix search. 

9.  Get out coats, hats, gloves & long johns ✅  We had our 1st freezing temperatures the 1st week of Sept.  That got me in the mood for getting out the cold weather gear.  Also, we were planning for freezing weather & maybe even snow during our camping trip.

10.  Go camping in the Big Horns of Wyoming ✅  Kevin & I took 5 days off from work.  We did some 4-wheeler riding & walking, saw lots of wildlife, spent 2 days fishing.  The nights & mornings were cold.  During the day was perfect vacation weather. 

Ready for trick-or-treaters

11.  Make tator soup ✅  Kevin harvested the rest of the garden that included the tators, after the 1st frost.  I'm not much of a soup maker.  Never been able to really get the right blend of savory spices.  I have a loaded baked tator soup recipe we like.  We ate soup for several days & I put the rest in the freezer for later.

12.  Go to a football game ✅  I like to go to a game before it gets too stinkin cold.  The telephone/electric companies had their customer appreciation tailgate party & we went to that game for the hotdogs snack bags due to Covid.

 13.  Drink spiced apple cider ✅  Kevin & I like the kind that comes in packets.  It's quick & tasty.  I saw on someone's else's list to have doughnuts with cider, so we gave that a try.  I'm adding that to my list.

14.  Have a hotdog roast ✅ I like to have a hotdog roast every chance I can get.  It's on my bucket list for every season.  Our favorite dinner party is roast hosting.

15.  Make a pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins & pumpkin cookies ✅  I made pumpkin cookies from scratch starting with peeling the pumpkin that came out of our garden.  I plan to do more pumpkin baking so not marking this completed yet.  I made pumpkin muffins using Joanne's 2 ingredient recipe.  I'm in the process of making the pies this weekend, so I'm checking off baking with pumpkin as done.

Sunset on Halloween night

16.  Take a leaf drive & have KFC for a picnic ✅  We stopped by KFC to get our chicken & they were closed.  New temporary hours being closed on Sunday...  Ohhhh what a bummer.  We substituted chicken from the deli of a grocery store for our picnic.  Lots & lots & lots of other folks had the same idea as we did.  There was not a picnic table available in our picnicking spot. We ate our lunch on the creek bank before going fishing.

17.   Make caramel popcorn ✅ I was planning to make real caramel corn & then I saw I had some popcorn caramel topping, so I used that. 

18.  Carve a jack-o-lantern ✅ On Halloween Kevin & I worked together to carve the jack-o-lantern. He did the cutting part, I did the scooping out the insides part. I was expecting 6 to 8 trick-or-treaters, prepared for 12.  24 creatures & cuties came knocking at the door.

19.  Make pumpkin chili ✅ Made chili on Halloween.  We ate on it for several days then put the rest in the freezer.

20.  Get vehicles ready for winter ✅ I put a blanket in my car along with a small snow shovel, extra gloves & hand warmers.  I washed the car it's final time before winter.  Kevin checks the fluids, changes the oil & stuff like that.

Drive around town

* I got all my items checked off.  Now on to the winter bucket list.

This has been my November fall bucket list update, how about you?

Cottonwood Tree & other October Happenings

Hello there Adventurous Friends, how you doing?  Kevin & I are well here in South Dakota other than a cough here, a sneeze & runny nose there, but not Covid yet that we know of.  There was community spread of Covid in our county this month.  A lot of community activities & sports events were canceled or postponed, school closed & went to online learning.

This is my October happenings, writing a little something about each day in a long drawn out sentence or 2.  Here are highlights of others I've linked up with. I've been watching the tree in our front yard go through it's seasonal changes from year to year since we moved to our current place 4 1/2 years ago.  The tree has grown quite a bit.  It will eventually have to be cut down as you will notice, it's very close to the driveway & street.  Also the town has mentioned putting in a sidewalk.  I took a picture of the tree everyday this month & watched for changes from day to day.  Our month started with beautiful warm fallish like weather & ended with fidget temperatures & a winter wonderland. 

   

* Thurs 1st - 31 nights of fall/Halloween movies, 1st up The Witch's Ball, frozen pizza for supper, added toppings of grated cheese, onions & Mrs Dash garlic & herb seasoning.

Oct 1st

* Fri 2nd - Finished writing letters to each of the Grands, worked on packaging their Halloween goodies; watched Pumpkin Pie Wars, what's the best thing to put into a pumpkin pie - your teeth.

* Sat 3rd - Facetimed with the Grands, showed each other our pumpkins, got manure dropped off to fertilize the garden, Rose thinks those little round balls are snacks for her, watched A Harvest Wedding.  

* Sun 4th - Rose & I stayed around the house while Kevin hunted to get an antelope, no luck yet, finished care package to Grands, Rose chewed on her bone, took extra walks out in the trees soaking up the warm fall sunshine & getting in extra exercise, watched several episodes of Murder She Wrote.

* Mon 5th- Good start to the week reading devotional false guilt & self-criticism, stop beating yourself up, mailed Grand's Halloween goodies, got a package from Daughter that included a letter from each Grand & a flash drive of wedding pictures, Lions club meeting canceled, had to come up with something for supper, thankful for leftovers, watched Love, Fall & Order.

* Tues 6th - Off work, to-dos - wash car & fix something for supper since no more leftovers, missions accomplished, bounce dryer sheets work magic getting bugs off vehicles, cleaned dogs bedding & feeding areas, finished puzzle of the cave I took Grands to back in the summer, watched Country at Heart.

* Wed 7th -  Made pumpkin muffins starting with Joanne's 2 ingredient recipe, 2 cups pumpkin, 1 box spice cake mix, added chocolate chips, pecans & cream cheese icing,  started a new puzzle - Hide & Seek, watched Love Under the Olive Tree.

* Thurs 8th - Rose is 5 months old, potty training is going pretty good, not there yet, but doing much better; sometimes she stands at the door & a time or 2 she barked wanting to go outside, though I think that was more for wanting the leftover biscuit she knew was out there for the birds, sleeping better in her kennel bed without crying/whining/barking all night, does a lot of chewing, had to put the couch pillows, bathroom trash can & my shoes out of her reach; watched Goose Bumps 2 Haunted-Halloween with Rose snuggled beside me.

* Fri 9th - Moma's furniture finally arrived after 4 weeks at her new 

place, promoted breast cancer awareness at work & inventoried give-away supplies for town's upcoming costume parade & business trick-or-treating, Happy Birthday to Grand Colton, Daughter is a fabulous host with creative themed parties & foods, Kevin got an antelope, watched Hubie Halloween.

* Sat 10th -  Worked on making Christmas ornaments to use as gift labels, took fall pictures around town, played in leaves with Rose, watched Sleepy Hallow.

* Sun 11th - Very very windy, stayed around the house, gathered & prepared canning supplies for antelope meat, inventoried freezer & made list of meals to make, watched American Murder - The Family Next Door.

* Mon 12th - Native American/Columbus holiday, finished making Christmas ornaments, wrapped Christmas presents, took a nap with Rose, made a spaghetti casserole for supper, helped Kevin make grouse & antelope jerky & can antelope meat, canner leaked so not sure if processed long enough, watched House at the End of the Street.                                                                                                                                                                                

* Tues 13th - Busy full day at work after holiday, tired, leftovers for supper, school closed till after the weekend due to possible Covid community spread, Grands got their Halloween goodies, spider rings & all, Kevin started the gas logs heat, watched The Haunting of Bly Manor.

* Wed 14th - Off work, had a 2nd cup of coffee, did some laundry, called to schedule appointment for yearly well-woman exam & get new prescription of thyroid meds, meds were extended a month & due to several new active cases of Covid was asked to call back next month to see about scheduling appointment, was going to vacuum downstairs & the vacuum cleaner didn't work right, made an apple crisp to go with fish Kevin cooked for supper, wrapped Christmas presents, finished Hide & Seek puzzle, was a winner of Christie's blogiversary drawing - Yay!, watched another episode of The Haunting of Bly Manor.

* Thurs 15th - Made Laura's pumpkin apple pancakes for breakfast, drive-up Covid testing set up at the clinic for those with symptoms, snowed during lunch break, ground was white for a flash, watched another episode of The Haunting of Bly Manor.

* Fri 16th - Slept in, Kevin off work, woke up with sore back, remembered lifting a couple heavy boxes at work, facetimed with Moma, she got her internet hooked up at her new place, Rose & I saw a pheasant & rabbit during one of our morning walks, ordered a new vacuum cleaner, Merry Christmas to me, friends tested positive for Covid, watched My Best Friend's Bouquet. 

* Sat 17th - Snow showers in the morning, cold & dreary, shared our pumpkins with friends, made brownies, started a new puzzle - Memory Lane, did some reading & watching tv, Lions club bingo canceled, Grands in NC went to a pumpkin patch, watched Sweet Autumn.

* Sun 18th - Took a drive on the Enchanted Highway, school is doing online learning for a week due to the amount of positive Covid cases, watched Autumn in the Vineyard. 

* Mon 19th -  Woke up to less than an inch of snow on the ground, over 30 cases of Covid in our community since the recent outbreak, started the month with 3 recovered cases, didn't go to Lions club meeting due to Covid exposures, rearranged living room furniture, moved desk & tv upstairs, watched Autumn Dreams.

* Tues 20th -  Updated My Fall Bucket List, cooked up some stuff in the freezer, made a squash casserole, cooked green beans in pressure cooker with tators, Kevin made coleslaw & cooked fish, played hide & seek with Rose, watched Harvest Moon.

* Wed 21st - Snowed all day, got my new Dyson vacuum cleaner, it's a little bigger than my other one, tried it out & it worked good, vacuumed downstairs where I left off, watched Under the Autumn Moon.

* Thurs 22nd - Got several inches of snow, found a note from one of the Grands, an unexpected heart warming surprise, called him, he had put the note behind the desk we moved upstairs, not doing my regular grocery shopping or going to public places other than work till Covid settles back down, watched Your Bacon Me Crazy.

                

* Fri 23rd - Slept in, Kevin off work, -0 when we got up, district wide mandatory mask wearing at work, South Dakota follows North Dakota for states currently with highest rate of Covid cases, got the afternoon off work unexpectedly, couldn't get in mood for housework or anything else, had an early supper of leftovers, snuggled under the flannel sheets, did some reading & watching tv, watched several episodes of The Haunting of Bly Manor.

* Sat 24th/Sun 25th - 

* Mon 26th - Thermometer read -15 when we got up, school opened & back to regular schedule, shoveled snow at work, treated myself to a caramel latte, Kevin & I took admission for volleyball games as Lions club activity, oldest Grand passed test for driver's training, got news from Daughter I'm busting to tell but have to wait till Halloween, watched All Hallows' Eve.

Big brother out enjoying a nice fall day
 in his neck of the woods in TX.

* Tues 27th - Off work, had a 2nd cup of coffee, did some laundry, cleaned out fridge, cleaned bathroom & washed the shower curtain, took several walks in the snow with Rose, finished up letters to each of the Grands, chunks of snow randomly fell off the roof making Rose bark annoyingly, vacuumed, my new vacuum cleaner has a longer cord than my old one, watched A Babysitter's Guide to Monster Hunting.

* Wed 28th -  Full day at work, got give-aways & candy laid out for the Monster March calling all kids to trick-or-treat businesses, read the newspaper, church Turkey Bazaar & clinic Basket Bash Fundraiser canceled, 2nd half of property taxes still due, watched Holidate.

*Thurs 29th - Decorated the lobby office at work for Halloween, had about 75 trick-or-treaters, Grands carved their jack-o-lanterns, another spendy month according to the Cabalas card statement, more Christmas shopping, a vacuum cleaner for me, target shooting stuff for Kevin, a sweater, retractable leash & chew bone for Rose, another tooth fixed for me, watched A Haunted House.

* Fri 30th - Took a long walk with Rose after work, weather felt warm in the mid to upper 40s after having cold & snow, watched The Witches.

Happy Halloween!

* Sat 31st -  Mailed Grand's Nov care package, Grand news expecting #8 announcement made, carved jack-o-lantern, Kevin did the cutting, I cleaned out the seeds, made pumpkin chili for supper, expected 6 to 8 trick-or-treaters, prepared for 12, got 24 awesome creatures & cuties, watched Poltergeist, Covid update in our county according to the public health department - 57 cases, 24 recovered, 0 deaths, 111 tested.

Some more pictures of our cottonwood tree making it's changes from summer to fall to winter all in a months time.

Oct 5th

Oct 10th

Oct 15th

       

Oct 22nd

 

Oct 31

These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?